Hello Fellow Foodies! You may recognize me as the winner from abc's Season 3 of the Great American Baking Show! I'm a full-time foodie, traveler, attorney, and lover of life! I'm thrilled to share snippets of my life with you through this blog--from my favorite holiday recipes to exciting voyages abroad. READ MORE

A lot of my cooking comes from me trying to use up what I have on hand. I bought several pounds of beautiful, organic carrots for the carrot cake I made for Easter. So, I have quite a few carrots left. Since I'll be out of town this weekend, I'm trying to use up all of the seasonal produce I have, so I decided to jazz up these carrots by roasting them in olive oil, sprinkling them with a little salt, and making a rather sophisticated dip.

A girl can only eat so much hummus. Although I admit this dip is quite hummus-y, it's still a welcome reprieve from the "baby carrots and hummus" snack. This dip is a blend of tahini (ground sesame seeds), peanut butter and lemon juice. I also mixed in some paprika, cayenne pepper and garlic powder to give it some pizzazz, and I topped with with whole sesame seeds.

The carrot french fries are delicious in their own right. And once you roast them with a drizzle of olive oil and salt, you may not wait to make the dip.

Baked Carrot "French Fries" with Tahini-Nut Butter Dip

Author: Vallery

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

6 whole carrots, cut into strips

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

1/4 cup tahini

1/4 cup nut butter

1/3 cup water

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

sesame seeds, for garnish

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425F. Wash and prepare the carrots by cutting them into quarters vertically, then thirds horizontally. Place the carrots on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in a single layer and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt. Roast them until they just start to brown, about 15-20 minutes. Remove the carrots from the oven.

While the carrots are baking, prepare the dip. Blend or whisk the tahini, nut butter, water, juice from the 1/2 lemon and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, paprika, garlic powder and cayenne pepper together until smooth.

Serve immediately. The dip may be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to three days.